Best horse toys for horse on stall rest post colic surgery (can't be too food-oriented!)

[fordtraktor]

What are your favorite horse toys? My 3 yo Dutch filly is on stall rest after colic surgery – so I am worried about something like an Uncle Jimmy’s hanging thing because I don’t want to mess with her vet-ordered diet! Would the Likit-type things be OK or do some horses eat those rather than lick them? Thanks for any advice, I haven’t had one on stall rest in ages and never due to colic surgery.

She has been a champ so far and is handling it well, I’d just like to give her something to occupy some of the time!

[PrincessPonies]

When mine was on stall rest I got the lickit boredom breaker. It uses mini lickits instead of the full sized ones that she always just ate. I figured they would take longer but I was greatly mistakened. The one thing that did take her longer was the Uncle Jimmys that fit in a normal lickit holder. I hung everything in the middle of the stall so that she couldn’t hold it against the wall and the stall cleaners hated me. What I found worked better was the Shires Distraction Aid Ball Stable Toy. I would fill it with hay pellets or some other treat and she would spend hours pushing it around. With a vet diet not really sure what you could do, mine personally hated the jolly ball.

[MysticOakRanch]

I had really bad luck with Lickit - horse figured out how to push it against a solid surface and eat the entire sugar infested toy in one sitting, then I had a stall bound horse on a sugar high:eek:

Some horses (mostly BOYS) will get a lot of fun out of a plain old traffic cone - grabbing the tip and flipping it around. Girls don’t seem to enjoy that toy quite as much. I did get a roller toy that I could put plain alfalfa pellets in (or any kind of pellets), and a friend’s husband looked at it and recreated one using a piece of heavy, large PVC pipe with a few holes drilled in it and a screw cap on one end and solid cap on the other. It rolls around, and ocassionally spits out a few pellets. Jolly balls seem to appeal to boys more then girls. I find mares are harder to entertain - partly because they don’t “get off” on mouthing and chewing. They need a toy with a genuine purpose.

[bt1]

YEP try hanging a traffic cone…or hanging some stuffies around if you don’t think she will eat them

[ndirish07]

When my first horse was recovering from colic surgery the rehab place had a gallon milk jug with some rocks in it tied to his stall. Loud and annoying? Absolutely. Did it entertain him? Absolutely. The bugger ended up using it to get attention like a door bell. You’ve been warned. :lol: Good luck!

[2tempe]

Not a toy, but get a slow feeder, small hole hay bag. Nibble nets are the best. will keep her busy eating longer.

[Texarkana]

Each of my horses has their own Amazing Graze. Yes, it’s food oriented, so I don’t know if it will work for your situation. I use it with alfalfa/timothy cubes, which I find to be softer than straight alfalfa cubes. You don’t need a lot of cubes to get the benefits; you can slow the horse down either further if you stuff a few handfuls of hay in the toy.

Also, I use durable Shires small hole nets, knot the cord up and stuff it inside the net, then throw it on the ground like a hay pillow. The horses have a good time flinging the net around. Of course, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing this with a horse wearing shoes that could get caught on the net, only barefoot.

[Chall]

@ndirish07

When my first horse was recovering from colic surgery the rehab place had a gallon milk jug with some rocks in it tied to his stall. Loud and annoying? Absolutely. Did it entertain him? Absolutely. The bugger ended up using it to get attention like a door bell. You’ve been warned. :lol: Good luck!

I did this, but substituted m&ms for pebbles.
the milk jug broke and got hung up in his tail. He was the most laid back TB so it didn’t create a situation, but it could have.

[fordtraktor]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I ordered an Amazing Graze as I think that will work with our feed restrictions.

[Edre]

I had a horse on extended stall rest and anything we hung we did so from the center of his stall that was just high enough to be a challenge to reach at, and couldn’t pin to the side of a stall to bite out of (RIP likits that were sacrificed in learning that lesson).

That said, the favorite toy? Jug (milk jug, kitty litter jug, or even a durable bottle like gatorade). Fill with a few rocks so it makes a satisfying rattle. Suspend. Let them go to town. (Some horses like the jugs on the ground, too - dependent on horse.) Just keep checking on them for when the plastic is weakening - switch them out at that point so they don’t chew through it/chew/rip holes. My horse absolutely loved these.